The Defense Information Systems Agency set plans to be the Pentagon’s lead cloud computing platforms provider in January and more defense agencies have prepared to use DISA’s cloud email service.
According to Federal News Radio, Defense Chief Information Officer Teri Takai said the Air Force and the Navy are in step to follow the Army’s move to DISA’s email cloud.
The move is set to resume in March.
Takai said once the Army has completed its move to DISA’s email services, the Air Force start to move.
The Navy is still in the negotiation stage, Takai said in the report.
Takai stressed that the Pentagon needs a single directory with a single identity management solution, according to Federal News Radio.
A uniform identity management system would open opportunities for the Pentagon to use enterprise-wide collaboration tools and for cyber protection, Takai said.
Army CIO Lt. Gen. Susan Lawrence indicated at a conference that the Pentagon’s Joint Staff and National Security Agency could potentially join DISA’s cloud, according to the report.
According to Takai, the enterprise email system is part of a larger cloud effort, which the Pentagon is set to release strategies and standards for by the end of April.
Takai said the Pentagon would like to use commercial cloud capabilities and the FedRAMP program will help DISA use those services.
Cloud computing contractors are expected to undergo the first round of FedRAMP testing in June.
Data center consolidation plays a role in the Pentagon’s cloud strategy as well, Takai said.
Takai said the Pentagon plans to cut down the number of data centers to 480 from 703 by 2014, including 97 closures this year.
The White House set a goal to close 800 data centers by the end of 2015.
Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel reported in January that the government was ahead of schedule in those efforts.
If DISA’s implementation of the Army’s Email is going to met the litmus test of being a Cloud implementation, it will need to eliminate the many disparate outlook servers it has established. The cost and down time has greatly increased due to the poor planning and selection process by Army G6. Relying on a Microsoft funded Gartner study was just one flaw in the process. Others include a sole source award to Microsoft, and zero business case. Why is congress allowing DISA and Army G6 to waste tax payer dollars and then lie about its successes. Seem like something we would see in Moscow……